The increasing demand for energy and the use of finite resources for energy production have led to the use of increased technology for the production, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy in order to make, distribute and use energy more efficiently and wisely. To that end, utility service providers have begun employing information technology systems integrated with their energy production, transmission, distribution and metering systems to enable more efficient monitoring and operation of such systems. Concurrently, vendors and manufacturers have also begun employing similar technology in products and devices that consume electricity, such as appliances (e.g., refrigerators, washing machines and dryers, dishwashers, HVAC systems, lighting systems, stoves, water heaters, etc.) and electronics (e.g., televisions, stereos, computers, etc.). These efforts are often broadly categorized as smart grid, smart meter and smart appliance or smart device technologies.
The smart grid marries information technology with the current electrical infrastructure. The smart grid is, in essence, an “energy Internet,” delivering real-time energy information and knowledge—empowering smarter energy choices. Roles for the smart grid include enabling the integration and optimization of more renewable energy (such as wind and solar); driving significant increases in the efficiency of the electrical network; and, empowering consumers to manage their energy usage and save money without compromising their lifestyle.
Smart grid technologies provide utilities and consumers with real-time knowledge and decision-making tools that empowers them to save energy, resources, money, and the environment. The smart grid is not a singular product, but rather a collection of hardware and software that works together to make today's electrical grid more intelligent. Similar to how the Internet turned a disaggregated collection of computers into a more powerful tool, overlaying the current power infrastructure with smart grid technology is like connecting the Internet to the computer, making an already useful machine much better and providing people with information to make intelligent decisions. Similarly, the smart grid, or the “energy Internet,” empowers consumers, businesses and utilities to make smarter energy choices.
Smart grid components include automation software and intelligent electronic hardware systems that control the transmission and distribution grids. Smart grid automation technologies—such as energy management systems and distribution management systems—help provide real-time knowledge and control over the distribution and transmission grids. On the transmission side, Energy Management Systems (EMS) provide real-time information on the grid's status, helping utilities automate various grid functionalities remotely. This automation technology helps utilities choose the best, most affordable generation mix (known as economic dispatch), keeping costs lower for consumers and businesses; reduce losses and waste in the delivery of power to drive a more efficient system; and maintain system reliability to help ensure a steady supply of power to customers. Distribution Management System (DMS) comprises the smart grid automation technology that provides utilities with real-time information about the distribution network and allows utilities to remotely control switches in the grid. The DMS is the heart of a smarter distribution grid; enabling utilities to manage distributed renewable generation, support grid efficiency technologies, and control the isolation and restoration of outages. Without DMS, the utility gets very little real-time information about the distribution grid and can't realize many of the benefits of a smarter grid.
Furthermore, smart grid technologies can extend beyond the electrical grid. With smart grid technologies in the home—like smart meters, smart energy panels, and smart appliances—consumers can have access to more accurate data and knowledge about electricity pricing, helping them save money and lower their environmental footprint.
Currently, most power companies offer one set price for electricity throughout the day, regardless of how expensive it is to produce. Most consumers don't know that it costs much more to produce energy during the peak hours of the day—typically between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.—than it does at any other time. A smart meter can communicate time of use pricing via smart home energy panels or other display devices to help consumers make smarter energy choices throughout the day. Consumers will be more likely to use high-consuming devices during off-peak pricing periods, when electricity prices are cheaper. With smart meters, buying electricity is like buying other consumer goods—with price impacting purchase decision. For example, a consumer can choose to have their house pre-cooled before arriving home to ensure the air conditioning system can remain off during expensive peak pricing hours, without impacting the consumer's comfort level. A consumer can also have their water pre-heated to avoid peak prices and lower their energy bill. A year-long study by the U.S. Department of Energy showed that real-time pricing information provided by the smart meter helped consumers reduce their electricity costs 10% on average and their peak consumption by 15%.
Smart meters can also enable consumers to pre-pay their electricity bill and help utilities better detect and manage outages. Smart meters coupled with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) helps pinpoint problems on the grid, allowing utilities to determine exactly which customers are without power. Compare this to today, when many utilities still wait for customer calls to notify them of outages.
Smart appliances can work in concert with smart meters and the smart grid to avoid peak-hour energy use and top-tier pricing-without any negative impact on the consumer-by adapting to price signals from the utility. For example, a dryer may automatically switch from high heat to “fluff” if electricity hits a certain per-kilowatt-hour rate—even if the homeowner is at work. Or, the automatic defrost on a refrigerator can delay itself until a time of reduced electricity rates. If the freezer delays the defrost cycle until after peak energy hours, consumers pay less for the same amount of energy. There are countless ways to conserve energy and save money when smart appliances are coupled with smart meters and time-of-use pricing information including, for example, updating software or firmware of a smart appliances using the smart grid and smart meter infrastructure. The smart grid, smart meter and smart appliance technologies enable utilities to communicate (duplex) with smart appliances in the home. This ability creates opportunities beyond that of energy management. For example, in some instances a meter (e.g., a “smart meter”) can acts as an energy service portal (ESP), which provides a connection between a first network (e.g., the network between the head end server and the meter), and a second network (e.g., the network between the devices within the home and the meter).
The second network receives its messages from the head end server of the first network, or a demand response management system (DRMS). DRMS are mechanisms to manage customer consumption of electricity in response to supply conditions, for example, having electricity customers reduce their consumption at critical times or in response to market prices. DRMS involves messages sent to demand response mechanisms that respond to these explicit requests to shut off. Demand response can involve actually curtailing power used or by starting on site generation which may or may not be connected in parallel with the grid. Demand response is a component of smart energy demand, which also includes energy efficiency, home and building energy management, distributed renewable resources, and electric vehicle charging. Current demand response schemes are implemented with large and small commercial as well as residential customers, often through the use of dedicated control systems to shed loads in response to a request by a utility or market price conditions. Services (lights, machines, air conditioning) are reduced according to a preplanned load prioritization scheme during the critical time frames. An alternative to load shedding is on-site generation of electricity to supplement the power grid. Under conditions of tight electricity supply, demand response can significantly decrease the peak price and, in general, electricity price volatility.
Demand response is generally used to refer to mechanisms used to encourage consumers to reduce demand, thereby reducing the peak demand for electricity. Since electrical generation and transmission systems are generally sized to correspond to peak demand (plus margin for forecasting error and unforeseen events), lowering peak demand reduces overall plant and capital cost requirements. Depending on the configuration of generation capacity, however, demand response may also be used to increase demand (load) at times of high production and low demand. Some systems may thereby encourage energy storage to arbitrage between periods of low and high demand (or low and high prices).
Generally, a smart meter is comprised of at least two separate electronic boards—a first board that controls communication between the smart meter and the first and second networks, and a second board that controls metrology functions and data management. These two boards are connected through an interface port. Because of the nature of smart grid, smart meter, and smart appliance technologies, a smart meter is not in constant communication with any other device (i.e., such communication involving the communication board is intermittent). However, when communicating, the communications board is by far the largest consumer of energy within the meter.
Therefore, methods and systems are desired that overcome challenges in the art, some of which are described above, to detect when the communication board in a meter is communicating.